Week in review: HCA gets $66 million tax break for downtown towers

With only one dissenting vote, Metro Council gave final approval Tuesday for a $66 million incentive package to health care giant HCA, paving the way for two soaring headquarters in midtown. The council voted 34-1 Tuesday to sign off on a trio of incentives for the Nashville-based hospital chain to relocate, delivering Mayor Karl Dean his largest economic development project so far in his second term.

Fisk chooses president

H. James Williams was chosen as the new president of Fisk University by the school's Board of Trustees on Wednesday. Williams was the dean of the College of Business at Grand Valley State University in Allendale, Mich. He will take office at Fisk in February.

Early flu season hits hard

Tennessee and other Southeastern states are posting the highest number of influenza cases in the earliest flu season in a decade, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Monday. The last time the flu season started this early was in 2003. County health departments are offering free flu vaccinations to fight the outbreak.

Fungal infections sicken 23 in 2 weeks

Fungal infections soared 27 percent in Tennessee since Thanksgiving after state health officials redoubled efforts to identify new illnesses. The surge is tied to a new wave of localized infections at the injection site among people who got spinal epidurals with moldy medicine produced by the New England Compounding Center.

Congress of Cities convention coming here

The board of directors of the National League of Cities, which sponsors the Congress of Cities and Exposition, voted unanimously to bring its annual conference to the new Music City Center in November 2015. The annual event is expected to draw more than 4,000 mayors, council members and other top officials from cities around the country for a multiday event in Nashville.

Middle TN home sales surge in November

Home sales in Middle Tennessee surged last month, moving the region closer to its best showing in five years, the Greater Nashville Association of Realtors said Thursday. Nearly 2,200 single-family homes, condominiums, multifamily units and farms/lots traded hands in November, a 38 percent spike from the same month a year earlier.

Education pros test plan to help schools

Tennessee was one of five states to announce Monday that it will add at least 300 hours of learning time to some school calendars starting in 2013. Five Metro schools are slated to participate in the pilot program.

Metro will acquire 600 acres for greenway

Nashville's collection of parks and greenways is poised to grow by around 600 acres as Metro plans to purchase highly coveted farmland that touches the Stones River in Donelson. The city would buy the land, which would become a park, for $8.2 million.

Experts urge steps for fighting child abuse

A group of 40 experts on protecting children is recommending dozens of steps the state should take to more effectively combat child abuse in Tennessee. The group, known as the Joint Task Force on Children's Justice/Child Sexual Abuse, met Thursday to hammer out final recommendations to be sent to the governor and lawmakers next month.